NASA Eyes Shuttle Replacements

jonerik writes "According to this article at Space.com, NASA yesterday released a status report on the first year of NASA's Space Launch Initiative; the search for a space shuttle replacement, currently planned to begin operating ten years from now. The competing contractors - Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and a team consisting of Northrop Grumman and Orbital Sciences Corp. - have their work cut out for them. NASA is looking for both a ten-fold improvement in per-pound launch costs (from $10,000 per pound to $1,000) and massive improvements in crew survivability." In related news, Rubyflame writes: "Aviation Now has a story about four new kerosene-fueled rocket engines being developed by Aerojet, Pratt & Whitney, Rocketdyne, and TRW. These are engines that will produce a million pounds of thrust, intended to outdo Russian designs in reliability and launch cost, and one of them may power a new reusable launch vehicle. Kerosene has the advantage that it's denser than hydrogen, so the fuel tanks can be smaller."

Comments

Re:Haiku

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

Oh my god, what kind of monster have I created?

I've opened the haiku box, and now, there's no way to stuff the verse back inside...

Oh, the humanity!!!

Re:I'm really getting bored of Slashdot...

[Linuxthess]

Mod this guy up, He sure knows his shit, Oh do it, God Damn It!!!

Re:Haiku

[MrHat]

There once was a posting to Slashdot
By a man wielding plus two who dare not
Make plus one the score
Of his posting, a door
Away from his boredom and skull-rot

Re:Reminds me of this:

[SkyLeach]

I had to post the moderations on this:

Moderation Totals: Offtopic=1, Funny=3, Overrated=1, Underrated=2, Total=7.

And yet, my Karma went up... 2 points.

"Math? I don't need no stinkin' math!." - /. coder #218